03 October 2007

OCTOBER 2--A group of white Louisiana college students dressed in blackface and reenacted the "Jena 6" assault while a friend snapped photos and videotaped the staged attack, images that were later posted to a participant's Facebook page. The photos, which you'll find on the following pages, were taken late last month on the bank of the Red River, where students from the University of Louisiana at Monroe giddily acted out the racial attack. The photos (and the short video clip at right) were posted to the Facebook page of Kristy Smith, a freshman nursing student. The album of images was entitled "The Jena 6 on the River." In the video, three students with mud smeared across their bodies stomp on a fourth student, while two of the participants are heard to say, "Jena 6."

Smith, 19, admitted she shot the video on a sandbar of the Red River in Alexandria. The video, originally posted on her now deleted Facebook profile, has been posted at www.youtube.com and www.thesmokinggun.com. In the grainy YouTube version, Smith's female friend and two unidentified males cover themselves in dark mud on the beach.